New Quarterly - JIPDEC · 2013. 2. 6. · newgames.Thusevenfromthe viewpointofcreatingJapan'sgame...
Transcript of New Quarterly - JIPDEC · 2013. 2. 6. · newgames.Thusevenfromthe viewpointofcreatingJapan'sgame...
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麗
麗
JIPDEC
Info】rmatization
Quarterly
1998
VideoGameIndustryinJapan
JIQNo.113
'・'・.● … ●1・ ・ ● ・ …
a`
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JIPDECInformatization
Quarterly
1998
JIPDECInf()rmatizationeuarterly
(JIQ)ispublishedquarterlybytheJapanInf()rmationProcessingDevel-
opmentCenter(JIPDEC),Kikai
ShinkoKaikanBldg.,3-5-8Shiba-
kocn,Minato-ku,Tokyo105Japan.
Publisher:HiroshiIkawa,Prcsident
Editor:YujiYamadori,Director
Research&International
Affairs
JIPDECisanon-profitorganizationfbundedin
1967withthesupportoftheMinistryofInterna-
tionalTradeandIndustry,theMinistryofPosts
andTelecommunicationsandrelatedindustry
circles,fbrthepurposeofpromotinginformation
processingandtheinformationprooessingin.
dustryinJapan.
NOTE:Theopinionsexpressedbythevarious
contributorstotheJIPDECinformatization
Quarterlydonotne㏄ssarilyreflectthoseviews
heldbyJIPDEC.
CONTENTS
FromtheEditor
1.
II.
III.
DevelopmentoftheJapan's
VideoGamcIndustry
TheSuccessofSony's
1
PlayStation
3
ThePresentStateofJaphn's
VideoGameIndustryand
RecentIssucs
11
17
Copyright1998byJapanInformationPro㏄ssing
DevelopmentCenter.
Nopartofthispublicationmaybereprodu㏄d
withoutwrittenpermissionofthepublisher.
TranslatedandPrintedbyDHCCorporation
PrintedinJapan,March,1998.
顔 藷慾 螢iご蒜J繍 No.113
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FromtheEditor
PCshaveinfiltratedintovarious
fields,andtodaywiththewelcoming
oftheopennetworkerawhichisfb-
cusedontheinternet,notonlythc
infbrmationthatdistributesvarious
media,butthcmaterials,calledcon-
tents,isalsobeingregardedessential.
Namely,comparedtosoftwarethat
pointstoaquantityofinfbrmation,
contentsareusedinabroadmeaning,
fromstrips,suchasonepictureor
onetextline,toacollectionofin-
f()rmation.Inthiscontext,muchof
themediaisdigitalized,andwiththe
arrivalofthemultimediaera,infbr-
mationissentandreceivednotonly
withsoftwareuse,butatvarious
materiallevcls,suchasthesounds
andimagesthatcomposeit,resulting
intheshiftoftheinfbrmationunit
frOmSOftwaretOCOntentS.
A晶idsuchasituation,contentsare
inthelimelightasanewbusiness.
Thecontentsbusinessisroughly
dividedintoproductionanddistribu-
tion・Incontents'production,there
isthetraditionalsoftwaredevelop-
mentdonebyconventionalsoftware
vendors,buthomepageproduction
ontheinternetisalsorecentlybeing
establishedasanewbusiness.
Majorcomputervendorstakeac-
countofcontentsasapromisingnew
busincss,andaredevelopinghard-
ware,suchasequipmentsandmate-
rialsnecessaryfbrprovidingthe
contents,andcontentsasawhole.
Inotherwords,theydevelopthe
gamesoftwareandedutainment
softwareasanextensiontocomputer
softwaredevelopment.Onone
hand,thedistribUtionofcontcnts,
suchasgamesoftware,isbeinghan-
dlcdatconveniencestores,gaining
popularityamongPupils.Dis-
tributingcontentsviatheinternetis
alsoveryprosperousnowadays.
Gamesareprobablythemostfami1-
iartypeOfmultimediathatinfiltrated
intohouseholds.Uptonow,many
householdvideogameshavecome
out,butthethreemachines,Sony
ComputerEntertainment's32-bit
machine"PlayStation",SEGA's
1 皿QNo.113,1998
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``SegaSaturn",andNintendo's64-bit
machine``NINTENDO64",andthe
portable``Gameboy"arethepresent
mainstream.Thesegamemachines
maderemarkableprogress,dueto
three-dimensionalexpressionbyus-
ingCD-ROMsandpolygons.
Furthermore,themovementofusing
thenetworkfbrgamesisaccelerating
withtherapidpopularizationofthe
intcrnet.Inotherwords,peoplearc
enjoyingcommongameswithpart-
nersotherthancomputcrs,and
communicationwithother「partners
thatplaythesegamesisbriskingup.
Inthefuture,thespreadingofPCs
andthemagnificationofnetworks
willmostlil(elyincreasethegame
populationveryrapidly・Also,the
shiftfromCD-ROMtoDVD-ROM,
therealizationof3Dprocessingwith
personalcomputersduetothead-
vancedresearchahddevelopmentof
3Dtechnology,andtheprogressin
virtualtechpologywillrealize
minutedescription,insertionofneat
soundeffects,andrefinedstories,
makinggamesamorerealisticand
real-experiencething・
Thiseditionfeaturedhousehold
videogames.Inediting,wCwere
allowedtopartiallyusethewhite
paper,publishedbytheComputer
EntertainmentSoftwareAssociation
(CESA),andwereceivedsomegood
advicefromCESAaswe11.We
w・uld'1ik・t・ ・xp・ess・u・g・atit・d・
here.
Wehopethereadersfindthisuscful.
YujiYamadori
Director
Research&InternationalAffairs
JIQNo.113,1998 2
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1.1)evelopmentoftheJapan,sVideo
GameIndustry
1.1)evelopmentoftheJapan's
VideoGameIndustry
Japan'svideogameindustryisa
leadcrinbothgameequipmentand
gamesoftware,andpresentlyprides
itselfworldwideasJapan'sbignamc
industry.Hereisahistoricalsurvey
ofthedevelopmentofJapan'svideo
gameindustry.
1.1.TheSalesofNintendoFamily
Computers(NintendoEnter・
tainmentSystem)
NintendowasnotthefirstinJapanto
sellhouseholdvideogamemachines,
buttheJapanesevideogamemarket
wasopeneduponJuly15,1983with
the``FamilyComputers(NES)"that
wercsoldbyNintendo.Asalong-
establishedmanufactureroftoys,
Nintendo,snamewasfamous,espe-
ciallyincardgames,suchasplaying
cardsandHanafuda.Although
Nintendoisstillstronginsuchmar-
kets,thepresentNintendodoesnot
carrythatkindofimageanymore.
FamilyComputerscarryan8・ ・bit
CPU,withamaximumdisplayof52
colorsandamaximumresolutionof
240x256dots.Overseas,these
computerswcresoldinAmericain
October1985asthe``NintendoEn-
tertainmentSystem(NES)".The
nameNESisnot㎞owninJapan,
butwewilluseNEShereonfbrour
non-Japanesereaders.
Todifferfromothergameequipment
manufacturers,Nintendosetalow
priceonNESsoitcouldbebought
asatoyfbrchildren,andplanneda
stratcgyoftakingfirstpriorityover
popularizingtheequipmentasa
gamesoftwareplatf()rm.NESused
ROMcartridgcsfbritssoftwareme.
dia,whichwereproducedbyNin-
tendoondemandbygamesoftware
companies.Therefore,itwascon-
sideredgoodaslongasaprofitwas
3 JIQNo・113,1998
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madeoutofsellingtheseROMcar-
tridges.Butthen,thebiggest
providerofNESsoftwarewasNi.n-
tendoitself.
ConcerningthepointofROMcar-
tridgeuse,NEScomesoftheAtari
lineage.Atariisahouseholdgame
machinemanufacturerthatmadean
explosivehitinAmericafromthe
1970stothebeginningofthe1980s,
andtheirsalesexceededthoseof
.NESinNorthAmerica.Ataridis-
provedthecommonpracticeofone-
software-per-machinebymakingit
possibletoplaymanygamesonone
machinc.Atarihasdisappeared
fromthemarket,buttheirsystemis
inheritedontopresentvideogame
machines.
ThemethodofhavingallROMcar-
tridgesproducedandsupPliedexclu-
sivelybyNintendohasbeenf()1-
lowed,fromNESdowntoSuper
Famicom(SuperNES)andNIN-
TENDO64s.Asisdiscussedlater ,
SonyComputerEntertainmentalsois
entrustedbygamesoftwarecompa-
nicstoproduceandsupPlyallPlay-
Stationgameso丘wareCD-ROMs
exclusively.Therefbre,inthevideo
gameindustry,Nintendo'smethod,
JIQNo.113,1998 4
ofhavingthecompanythatproduces
theplatf()rmequipmentonwhichthe
softwareoperatesproduceand
supplyallgamesoftwaremedia,isa
firmlyestablishedbusiness.Thisis
anecessaryincomesource,ascollat-
era1,fbrequipmentmanufacturersto
providetheirproductsatalowprice
thatisnearlythecostofmanufac-
turing,andasaresult,playsabig
roleinexpandingthegamemachine
market.Italsohelpssoftware
companiesconcentrateonproducing
newgames.Thusevenfromthe
viewpointofcreatingJapan'sgame
industryframework,thereisgreat
influencefromNintendo'ssuccess
withNES.
Thegamesoftware"SuperMario
Brothers"thatstarredSuperMario,
oneofthecharactersinthepopular
software``Donkey'Kong",cameout
onthemarketin1985andwasa
greatsuccess.In1986,``Dragon
Quest"wasputonthemarket,cstab-
lishingaRolePlayingGame(RPG)
marketinJapan.In1987,theRPG
``FinalFantasy"wasintroduced.
ThesepopularRPGscameoutwith
sequclsoneafteranothcr,andplayed
animportantroleingamemarket
expanslon・
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NES,whichispracticallythefirst
generationofhouseholdvideogame
machinesinJapan,obtainedgreat
successdomesticallyandoverseas,
andasofSeptember30,1997,the
accumulatedshipmenttotals
amountedtoagrandtotalof
61,600,000machines;19,040,000in
Japanand42,560,0000verseas.
Accordingtothecensustakenin
1995,thenumberofJapanesehouse-
holdswas44107856andwhencal-,,,
culated,thesaturationlevel(number
ofdomesticshipments/numberof
Japanesehouseholds)ofthesema-
chineswasapproximately43%.
TheaccumulatedtotalsofNESsoft-
wareasoftheendofSeptember
1997amountedtoagrandtotalof
500,020,000;225,860,0000f1,047
typesdomesticallyand274,160,000
0verseas.
1-1ShipmentofNES,SuperNESandNintendo64
(×1000)
45,000
40ρ00
35,000
30,000
25ρ00
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
囲JAPAN
聞RestofWodd
SuperNES
5 JIQNo.ll3,1998
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(×1000)
1-2.SoftwareShipmentofNES,SuperNES
andNintendo64
膠JAPAN
■RestofWorld
SuperNES
JIQNo.113,1998 6
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1.2.Introductionofthe16-bit
VideoGameMachine
Whentherearestrikingimprove-
mentsinhardwarefunctionsasa
gameplatf()rm,requiringachangein
gamesoftware,itisagreatchance
f()rtheothergamemachinemanu-
facturerstodriveoutcurrentmanu-.
facturersfromthemarkett6seizeit
丘)rthemselves.Thisisbecausethe
currentsoftwareassetcannotbeused
asis,andallmanufacturersare
placedatthesamestartingPoint・
ManufacturerswholosttoNintendo
withthe8-bitmachinegotahead
startinintroducingthe16-bitmachi-
nein1988toteardownNintendo's
stronghold.
OnNovcmber21,1990,Nintendo
introducedSupcrNESasthesucccs-
sortoNES.SuperNEScarricsa
16-bitCPU,withamaximumdisplay
of32,768colorsandaresolutionof
512x448dots.SimilartoNES,
ROMcartridgesareusedf()rthe
gamesoftwaremedia.However,
NESROMcartridgesareunusable
ontheSuperNES.SEGAEnter-
prises'MegaDrivealsosoldwell,in
itsownway,butwhatbecamethe
7
topbrandinthe16-bitmachinemar-
ketwasNintendo'sSuperNES,as
expected.AfteraU,theNintendo
grouphadmOreattractivegame
sofiwarethantheothergamema-
chinegroups..SuperNESand
SEGA'sMegaDrive,thetwo"big-
gies",'sharedthe16-bitmachine
market.SEGAisthegreatest
manufacturerofbusinessgamema-
chinesinstalledingamearcades,
thushadthestrengthoftransplanting
theirpopulargamesintohousehold
videogamemachines.
SimilartoNES,SuperNESin-
creaseditsshipm『ntdomestically
andoverseas,reachingaccumulated
shipmenttotalsto16,960,000ma-
chinesinJapanand29,740,0000ver-
scasasofthcendofSeptember1997.
Inaddition,theaccumulatcdship-
menttotalsofSuperNESgame
softwareamountedto193,440,0000f
1,393typesdomesticallyand
172,910,0000verseas.
1.3.Tothe32・bitMachineEra
The16-bitSuperNESmachinewas
weakindisplaying3Dimages.
Therefbre,itwasexpectedf()rthe
nextgeneration32-bitmachinesto
JIQNo.113,1998
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bemuchstrongerinthisfunction,
drawingaclearlinebetweenthetwo
jngamesoftware,fbracompletely
differentandnewmarketthatdidnot
dependonthe16-bitmachinesoft-
wareasset.Forthisreason,in1994,
notonlydidSEGAintroduceSEGA
Saturntothemarket,butMatsushita
ElcctricIndustria1,thehousehold
electronicsmanufacturerthathada
salesscopethatnogamemachine
manufacturercouldcompeteagainst
evenasagroup,putout3DOReal
toenterthegamemachinemarkct.
AndSony,Matsushita'srival,estab-
lishedasubsidiarycompanySony
ComputerEntertainment(SCE)to
enterthegameequipmentandsoft-
waremarket,andintroducedPlay-
Station.Nintendodidnotdevelop
any32-bitmachines,butproceeded
atoncewiththeirdcvelopmentof
64-bitmachines.
Matsushitadroppedoutquicklyfrom
the32-bitmachinemarket.Be-
causetheyreceivedcriticismthatthe
planncdsellingpriceof3DOwas
tooexpensiveasagamemachine,
Matsushitaloweredtheirprice,but
thegamemachines田lcostedtoo
muchtobereasonableandsalcs
weresluggish.Softwaredevclop-
JIQNo.113,1998 8
mentcompanieswouldnotkeepup
withgamemachinesthatdidnotsell.
Therefbre,Matsushita .Electricscan-
celedthesalesof3DOandpulled
outofthegamemachinemarket.
Thiswasaperfectexamplethat
showedthatthecommonknowledge
ofhouseholdelecronicsmanufactur-
ersmakingaprofitonequipments
wouldnotbeacceptedinthegame
machinemarket.
Ontheotherhand,SCEsetalowand
aff()rdablepriceonPlayStation(PS),
andsetupanenvironmentf()reasy
devclopmentbyreleasingtheneces-
sarylibrariesandtoolsforPSsoft-
waredevelopment,urgingPowerfUl
softwarecompaniesoftheNintendo
groupto``transfer"toPS.BesidesthefactthatNintcndodidnotputout
a32-bitmachinc,SCE'smcasures
f()rwinningoversoftwarecompanies
wereverycffective,andpowerful
softwarecompanicsthatbuiltare-
putationwithNESandSuperNESshiftedtothePSgrouponeafteran-
other.AndbecausethcsepowerfUl
softwarecompaniesstartcdselling
sequelsofpopUlarSuperNESsoft-
warefromthePSgroup,manygamc
fansofsuchsoftwareshiftedfrom
NintendotopurchasePS.
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Inthisway,notjustwiththeattrac-
tive32-bitgamemachineso丘ware
thatmadefulluseof3Dimages ,but
bytakinginstronggamesoftware
companiesintotheirgroup,selling
low-grademachineswithapartial
omissionoffunctions,andmaking
thegamesoftwaremediumaCD-
ROM,SCE'sPSattainedahigh
positioninthegamemarket,and
theiraccumulatedshipmenttotalsas
ofFebruary5,ユ998rcachedatotal
of30,000,000machinesworldwide;
10,650,000inJapan,10,750,000in
NorthAmericaand8,600,000in
Europe.Inaddition,theiraccumu-
1atedtotalsf()rsoftwareshipment
totaled199,000,000asoftheendof
1997,with90,000,0000f1,150titles
inJapan,59,000,0000f380titlesin
NorthAmerica,and50,000,0000f
400titlcsinEurope.
AsfbrSEGA's32-bitmachineSE-
GASaturn,theaccumulatedship-
menttotalsasoftheendofMarch
1998reachedroughly5,600,000ma-
chines,approximatelyhalfofPS.
Thedomestic32-bitmachinemarket
isbeingsharedbetweenPSand
SEGA.However,thcovcrseas
salesperformanceOfSEGASaturnis
notfavorable,andtheyannounced
recentlythattheywerepullingout
fromtheNorthAmericanmarket.
Competitioninthegamemarketis
nowseenasabattlebetweenPSand
NINTENDO64,andSEGAisnow
putatagreatriskofdropPjng、outof
themarket.
1.4.NINTENI)064
Bccauseofthedelayinthedevelop-
mentofhigh-qualitygamesoftware
f()r64-bitmachines,NINTENDO64,
lateonthemarket,wasfinallyputon
saleJUne23,1996inJapan.Itwas
putontheoverseasmarketinSep-
tember.NINTENDO64carriesa
64-bitCPU・with・m・xim・mdi・pl・y
of16,770,000colors,anduscsa
ROMcartridgefbrtheirsoftware
medium.ComparedtoPS,which
builtupafirmpositioninthcmarket,
NINTENDO64isstrugglinginJapan
duetoitsverylimitcdnumberof
software,butisquitcequaltoPS
overseas.Nintcndoistakingthc
strategyofcarefullyselectingonly
softwareofthebestquality,against
PS'sstrategyofsellingahugemix-
tureofsoftware,whethergoodor
bad.Noconclusionscanbemade
yetonwhichstrategywillappeal
moretothecustomerinthefuture.
9 JIQNo.113,1998
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NINTENDO64'saccumulatedship-
menttotalsasoftheendofSeptem-
ber1997amountedto2,470,000ma-
chinesinJapanand9,030,0000ver-
seas.Theiraccumulatedsoftware
shipmenttotalsamountedto
8,640,0000f54typesinJapanand
23,300,0000verseas.
JIQNo.113,1998 10
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II.TheSuccessofSony,sPRayStation
1.PrimaryFactorsofPlay・
Station,sSuccess
Thefactorsthatleadtothesuccessof
Sony'sPlayStation(PS)wercNin-
tendo'sdecisionnottoputouta32-
bitmachine,Sony'ssuccessinw・in-
ningovcrgamesoftwarecompanies,
andtheirrcvolutionizationofgame
softwaredistribution.Undoubtedly,
therewasalsodissatisfactionwith
Nintendo,whodominatedthegamc
industry.HerewewillverifyPS's
SUCCCSS.
1.1.PlayStationSales
Sony'ssubsidiarycompanyofgame
equipmentandsoftware,SonyCom-
puterEntertainment(SCE),wases-
tablishedonNovember16,ユ993by
integratingthedcpartmentwhichwas
developinggamesoftwareinSony
MusicEntertainment(SME),asub-
sidiarymusic-rclatedcompany,anda
partofSony'smanufacturingdepart-
ment.
Sonydevelopedthesoundsystemof
SuperNES.Theyconsideredput-
tingoutaSuperNEScompatiblema-
chinc,butdidnotcomeoutwithone
afterall.
SCEcameoutwiththe32-bitmachi-
nePlayStation(PS)SCPH-10000n
December3,1994.PScarriesa32-
bitCPU,withamaximumdisplayof
16,770,000colors,anduscsaCD-
ROMasitssoftwaremedium.The
primarydevelopmentalconceptofPSisinadvanced3Dimageprocessing.
SCEsoldthePSSCPH-1000atan
unbelievablylowcost,andindustry
partiesconcernedsaiditwaspossiblc'onlybecauseitwasSony.However,
itstillcostedmorethanSuperNES,
andthusSCEannouncedmodelswith
anomissionoffunctionsandcheap
modelswithoutaccessoriesinrapid
succcssion.Thestandardpriceof
thePSSCPH-7000(Refertothepic-
ture.)thatisprescntlybeingsoldis
18,000yen,roughlyhalfthatofthe
firstmode1,SCPH-1000.
1.2.MeasuresforTakingInSoft・
wareDevelopmentCompanies
SCE,undertherecognitionthatitwas
mostimportanttoprovideawide
varictyofsoftware,firstdecidedto
prepareanenvironmentf()reasy
11 皿QNo.113,1998
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softwaredevelopmentinordertotake
softwarecompaniesintothePSgroup.
Besidesprovidingsoftwaredevelop-
mentapParatusandmaterialsatalow
cost,theysupPliedagreatvarietyof
librariesandtoolsequippedwiththe
necessaryfUnctionsf{)rcreatingthe
games.Anduntilthen,assembler
wasusedasthedevelopmentlan-
guageofgamesoftware,.butPS
adoptedClanguage.
Furthermore,Nintendolimitcdthe
numberofgametitlespergamesoft-
warecompanysothequalityoftheir
gamesoftwarewouldnotbelowered,
butSCEdidnotaddanylimits,a1-
lowinggamesoftwarecompaniesto
createasmanytitlesasdesired.
Nintendomadequalitycontrolon
gamesoftwareveryharsh,usingthe
lessonlearnedfromthecasewhere
thehouseholdgamemachinemarket
ofAtari,whichmadeanexplosivehit
inAmerica丘omthe1970stothe
early1980s,disappearedcompletely.
Ataridisappeared丘omthemarket
becausealotofworthlesssoftware
wentoutonthemarket,andcon-
sumersperceivcdhouseholdgamesas
boring.Therefbre,Nintendolimited
softwarecompaniestheannualnum-
beroftitlestomaintainquality.
Nintendo'sattitudeinattaching
greaterimportancetosoftwarequality
thantoquantityhasbecomemore
distinctinNINTENDO64.Asfbr
SCE,aburgeoningpower,theyat-
temptedtoattractsoftwarecompanies
thatdislikedNintendo'scontrolby
denyingNintendo'swayofdoing
things.
SCPH-7000
、
JIQNo.113,1998 12
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1.3.RevolutionizationofGame
SoftwareDistribution
Therevolutionizationofgamesof卜
waredistributionwasanessential
factorforPS'ssuccess.Whilefol-
lowingNintendo'sexample,they
alsousedNintendoasanexampleof
whatgamemachinecompanies
shouldnotbe,utilizingtheir
strongcstareatothemaximum.
1.3.1.DissatisfactionWithNin-
tendo,sSoftwareDistribution
AlltheROMcartridges,onwhich
thcgame'softwaref()rNES,Super
NES,andNINTENDO64arestored,
arcmanufacturedandsoldbyNin-
tendo.Sincethesoftwareofthe
ROMcartridgesareprintedontoan
specificIC,itissaidtotakeap-
proximatelysixmonths,fromre-
ceivingtheorderfromthegame
softwarecompanyandarrangingthe
rawmaterials,toprintingthesoft-
wareandactuallyputtingtheproduct
ontothemarket.Manufactureof
thespecjficICwasoftcndelayed,
1cadingtoaninsufficientstockof
popularsoftwareexpectedtogain
greatsalessimultaneouslytoitsde-
butonthemarket,causingthesoft-
waretocomeoutlateonseveraloc-
casions.Inthisway,becausethe
makingoftheROMcartridgestook
somuchtime,thescheduleofpro-
ductioncouldnotbechangedasthe
occasiondemanded,andtherewas
literallynoadditionalmanufacturing.
Forthisreason,Nintendocouldnot
guaranteethearrivalofadditional
ordersmadebytheretailshops.
Furthermore,Nintendo,asalong-
establishedmanufactureroftoys,had
wholesalersthatovertheyearshad
becomeaclosely-knitcooperating
relationship,andNintendoorganized
thesewholcsalerssoNESandSuper
NESROMcartridgespassedthrough
thewholesalegrouptosupplythe
retailshops.
Inthisway,Nintendobuiltupasys-
temtocontroleverything,from
softwaredevelopmenttomanufac-
tureanddistribution.VゾhileSuper
NESoverwhelminglypossessedthe
market,itwaspossibletosupPress
.thedissatisfactionofgamesoftware
companies,butwhenthechoiceof
SCE'sPScameout,thiswasnot
possibleanymore.Also,thcwhole-
salegroupwhoassumedcontrolover
thcdistributionofROMcartridges
gainedpower,placingtheretai1
13 JIQNo.113,1998
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shopsinaweakpositionandcausing
theirdissatisfactiontogrow.
1.3.2.SCE,sSoftwareDistribution
System
LikeNintendo,SCEalsomanufac-
turesandsellsalltheCD-ROMs
storedwithPSgamesoftware,but
differentfromNintendo,theychose
themethodofsellingtheirCD-
ROMsdirectlytotheretailshops,
withoutpassingitthroughawhole-
saler.Here,theCD-ROMusedas
theirgamesoftwarerecordingmedi-
umdemonstratedgreatmerit.SCE
madetheirsoftwarerecordingmedi-
umtheCD-ROM,notbecauseofits
greatstoragecapacity,butbecause
theyconsideredtheeaseofmaking
useofSony'scurrentproductionand
distributionsystem.Byusingthe
CD-ROM,SonycoulduseSME's
music.CDproductionlinef()rpro-
duction,andSME'sdeliveryand
physicaldistributionsystemf()rsup-
ply.Furthermore,differentfrom
theROMcartridge,theCD-ROM
doesnotrequireanyspecialcompo-
nents,soitcanbemanufacturedata
lowcost,andadditionalproduction
accordingtothcorderreceivedcan
bedoneeasily.
SCErequestedretailshopstoplace
ordersbasedontheactualdemand,
producedandshippedCD-ROMs
accordingtothenumberoforders
Placed,anddidnotkeepexcessstock・
InthecaseofNintendo'sROMcar-
tridges,Nintendoonlyproducedan
initialquantity,sopricesplummeted
whenexcessstockwasleftoverdue
tomiscalculations,andausedgame
softwaremarketformedbecauseof
productinsuf丘ciency(Ex▲stenceof
theusedgamesoftwaremarketisa
bigprobleminthepresentJapancse
videogameindustry,asismentioned
later.).SCE'smethodofcontract-
ingdirectlywithretailshopswithout
usingwholesalerswasanepoch-
makingthinginthoscdays,andit
wasarevolutionindistribution.
Participatingintothemarketanew
andnothavinganytieswithtoy
wholesalerswcrewhatenabledSCE
totakesuchboldstrategies.
Inthisway,SCEguarantcedastable
supplyofsoftware,andperfectcda
productionanddistributionsystem
thatpreventcddrasticpricedrops・
RetailshopswelcomedSCE,andnot
onlytoystores,butplacesthatdid
nothandlegamesoftwareuntilthen
enteredintosales.
皿QNo.113,1998 14
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Inaddition,SCEproducedallPS
CD-ROMssoldoverseasatSony's
localfactories,andsoldthemthere.
However,sincethedistributionsys-
temdiffersaccordingtothecountry,
theyarenotusingthedirectdistribu-
tionsystcmusedinJapan.
2.ThePresentSituationofPS
Duetosuchmeasures,thesalesof
PSmachinesandnumberofgame
softwaretitlesincreasedsteadily.
Here,weshalllookattheaccumulat-
cdshipmenttotalsofPShardware
andsoftware.
2.1.PSShipmentTottils
PS,whichcameoutonDecember3,
1994inJapan,alsodebutedinNorth
AmericaandEuropeinSeptembcr
1995.Bytheendof1995,roughly
6neyearafteritsdebut,theaccumu-
1atedshipmenttotalsshowedatotal
of3,400,000machines;2,000,000in
Japan,800,000inNorthAmerica,
and400,000inEurope.Bytheend
of1996,thctotalsreachedatotalof
11,000,000machines;5,000,000in
Japan,3,600,000inNorthAmerica,
and2400000inEuropc,andshowed
arecord223.5%comparedtothe
yearbefore.Bytheendof1997,
thecomparisonratioshowedanap- 、
proximate100%increasefrom1996
at10,050,000machinesinJapan,a
187.5%increaseat10,350,000in
NorthAmerica,anda225%increase
at7,800,000inEurope.Theaccu-
mulatedsalestotalsinNorthAmeri-
caexceededthoseinJapan,andthe
grandtotalshoweda156.4%in-
creasefromtheyearbcfbre,at
28,200,000machines.OnFebruary
5,1998,theaccumulatedshipment
totalsworldwidebrokethe
30,000,000mark;10,650,000machi-
nesinJapan,10,750,000in.North
America,and8,600,000inEurope
(RefertoFiguresII-1andII-2.).
2.2.NumberofPSSoftwareTitles
andAccumulatedShipment
Totals
ThenumberofPSsofiwaretitlesas
oftheendofDecember1997is
1,150inJapan,380inNorthAmer-
ica,and400inEurope.Theaccu-
mulatedshipmenttotalsofsoftware
are90,000,000inJapan,59,000,000
inNorthAmerica,50,000,000in
Europe,reachingagrandtotalof
199,000,000(RefertoFiguresII-3
and・II-4.).
15 JIQNo.113,1998
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(×1000)
30,000
25.000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
PSShipmentWorldwide
12000
10ρ00
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
囲Japan
団NorthAmerlca
口Europe
JIQNo.113,1998 16
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(×1000)
1.400
1-3.NumberofPSsoftwareTitlesinJapan
19983*
*estlmated
90,000
80ρ00
70,000
60,000
50,000
40,000
30COO
20,000
10,000
17 JIQNo.113,1998
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3.TheFairTradeCommis・
sionChargesSCEwith
SoftwarePriceControl
SCE'sso負waredistributionsystem
thatusedNintendo'sbadexampleto
buildandacquiregreatsuccessalso
wasnodifferentfromNintendoin
thewaytheycontrolledallprocesses
frOmmanUfaCturingtOSaleS.
Therefore,theyareinthepositionto
addpressuretotheretailshops・In
January1998,theFairTradeCom-
missionchargedSCEfbrhavingre-
tailersandwholcsalersselltocusto-
mersatthemanufacturer-suggested
retailpriceandstopusedsoftware
sales.FrCdemandedSCEtostop
resalepricecontrolandbindingdea1,
whichareprohibitedbytheAntitrust
Law.BecauseSCEflatlydenied
theFairTradeCommission'snotice
onthiS,thattheirnoticewasagainst
thefacts,thejudgmentprocessbe-
guninMarch.
SCE,fromtheviewpointofnotpos-
sessingexccssstock,regulatestheir
productionanddistribution,andif
SCE'scontrolofgamesoftwarepro-
ductionanddistributionisdeniedby
theFairTradeCommission,SCE
wouldreceivegreatimpact,and
thesystemf()rsoftwaredistribution
willalsochangedrastically.How-
ever,thedirectsalessystemthatwas
f()rmedbySCE,whichdeniedNin-
tendo'sdistributionsystem,isstill
beingsupportedbymanyretail
shops.
4.FuturePSStrategies
TherearemanyguessestowhatSCE
isconsideringfbrthenextgencration
PSmachine,buttheyarenotgiving
outanycomments,includingwheth-
ertheyareinthedevelopmentstage
ornot,anditseemstheyarcpresen-
tlyconcentratingonfurtherPSsales・
AlongwiththefactthatPSsoftware
wasnotpassedthroughexistingtoy
wholcsalers,thesoftwarewassold
notonlyatspecializedtoystores,but
atvolumesellersofhouscholdelec-
tricsandCDshopsaswel1,and
therefbrehadalargeclassofadult
purchaserscomparedtoNintendo,
butwererathcrweakinthemarket
fbrchildren.
SCEdoesnotthinktheyhavedone
allthatshouldhavebeendonewith
PS,andisthinkingthereisstillroom
f()rdevelopment,suchasinmarkets
centeredonchildrenandwomen.
JIQNo.113,1998 18
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Thisisbecausethemarketscaleof
thegameindustryisstillverysmall
comparedtotheotherindustries,and
thepieitselfisnotgettingbigger.
Mostpersonswhoplaygamesal-
readyhaveSuperNESandPS,andit
issaidthatthegamepopulationison
thestagnantsidenow.
However,SCEthinksthegame
populationwillgrowdependingon
thesoftware.Agoodexampleis
``DerbyStallion"thatcameoutinthe
endofJuly1997.Thisisapopular
softwarewithsalesthatreached
1,500,000intwoweeksafteritsde-
but.Itisasimulationgamein
whjchaderbyhorseisgivenbirth,
trained,andenteredfbrarace,and
manycustomersofthisclasspur-
chascdPShardwaretogetherwith
thesoftware.Furthermore,inthe
cndof1997cameout"Denshade
GO!",agamesoftwareforthevirtual
experienceoftrainoperation.This
gamestimulatedadultswhowanted
tobeatraindriverwhentheywerea
child,andsofarhasreachedthe
salesofapproximately800,000,and
thesoftware-exclusivecontroldevice
whichlookscxactlylikethereal
handleusedintrainoperationisalso
sellingwe11.
PShasnorivalsinJapannow,but
thepresentopinionofSCEistoen-
1argethegamemarketpie.
19 皿QNo.113,1998
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III.ThePresentStateofJapan,s
VideoGameIndustryand
RecentIssues
Thischapterintroducesthestatistical
dataofJapan'svideogamCindustry,
andgivesageneralsurveyonthe
prcsentstateandfutureofthevideo
gameindustry.
1.ThePresentStateofJa-
pan,sVideoGameIndustry
inStatistics
Althoughhouseholdgamemachines
aregenerallyknownbytheirabnor-
malgrowth,andarebecomingan
・・C・yd・yit・m,th・ ・ew・ ・n・c・11ec-
tionofstatisticaldataconcerning
hardwareorsoftwareuptonow.
The"1997CESAGameWhitePa-
per",releasedinJuly1997bythe
ComputerEntertainmcntSoftware
Association(CESA),isthefirstand
onlycollectionofstatisticaldataon
thehouseholdvideogameindustry.
CESAwasestablishedinAugust
1996withthepurposeofpromoting
ComputerEntertainmentSoftware
andcontributingtothesteadygrowth
ofJapan'sindustryandtheim-
provementofthelifeofthepeople,bydoingstudyandresearch,and
familiarizingandeducatingon
householdComputerEntertainment
Software.
CESAismadeupofcoopcrations
andindividualsengagedinthede-
velopmcntofcomputerentertain-
mentsoftwareandinthemanufac-
tureanddistributionbusinesses,and
mostofthemajorcomputerentcr-
tainmcntsoftwaredealersparticipatc
init.
CESAexecutesspecificworkonthe
fOllOwingmatterS.
(1)StudyandresearchonComputerEntertainmentSoftware
(2)PopularizationandeducationonComputerEntcrtainmentSoft-
ware
(3)Holdingexhibitions,trainingseminars,andstudymeetingson
ComputerEntertainmentSoft-
ware
皿QNo.113,1998 20
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(4)Exchangeandcooperationwithrelateddomesticandforeign
oganizationsonComputerEn-
tertainmentSoftware
(5)Otherrelatedwork
Thewhitepaperwaspublishedasa
partofthisproject,andweshallin-
troduccapartofitbelow.Now,
thisisthefirstever,andthuscannot
be・comparedwithanythingofthe
past・
1.1.TheMarketoftheEntire
VideoGamelndustry
Themarketscalcoftheentirc1996
vidcogameindustryofbothhard-
wareandsoftwareis858,099million
yen,andthetotalamountofdomes-
ticshipmentaccountsfor59.6%of
thistotalat507,369'millionyen,and
overseasexportsoccupy40.4%at
344,630millionyen(RefertoFigure
III-1・)・
1・2・HardwareShipments
Hardwarcshipmentin1996amount-
edto379,095millionyenintota1.
Japanoccupies41.5%thetotalat
157,201millionyen,andoverseas
exportsoccupies58.5%at221,894
millionyen(RefertoFigureIII-2.).
1.3.SoftwareShipments
Softwareshipmentin1996reached
472,904millionyenintotal,350,168
millionyeninJapan,and122,736
millionyenoverseas(exports).Ja-
panaccountsfor74.0%ofthetota1,
andoverseasexportsaccountfor
26・09・(Fig・ ・elll-4・)・
Lookingintotheshipmentpcrso丘 -
waretype,thcsoftwareshipmcntfor
hardwareof32-bitandhigher
amountsto293,680millionyen,oc-
cupying62.1%thetota1,30.4%fbr
softwarefbr16-bitmachinesat
143,648millionyen,and7.5%f()r
softwarefor8-bitmachinesat35,576
millionyen(RefertoFigureIII-4.).
21 JIQNo.113,1998
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皿 一一1.Hardware+Software
TotalOverseasShipment
344,630mi|lionyen
TotalShipment
851,999millionyen
TotalDomesticShipment
507,369miHionyen
・.・…、…・59.6%1・ .
口DomesticShipment
■Overs6asShipm8nt
皿 一2.Hardware 皿 一3.Sofヒware
TotalOverseasShipment
122.736mil|ienyen
TetelDomesticShipment
O.168millionyen
TotalOverseasShipment
221β94mi|lionyen
TotelShipment
379,095
miltionyen
TotalDomesUcShipment
157.201millionyen
JIQNo.113,1998 22
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皿 一4.ScopeofSofヒwareShipmentbyTypeofHousehold
VideoGameEquipment
ShipmentofSoftwarefor
8-bitMachines
351576mitlionyen
礁'
TotalSoftware
Shipment
472,904m川ionyen
ShipmentofSoftwarefor
16-bitMachines
143,648millionyen
ShipmentofSoftwarefor32-
bit(andabove)Machines
293.680milli◎nyen
口Softwarefor32-bit(and
above)machines
團Softwarefor16-bit
machines
■Softwarefor8-bit
machines
TotalSoftwareShipment
472,904millionyen
23 JIQNo.113,1998
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2.TheGameSoftwareIn.
dustryvs・RetailShops
OvertheSalesofUsed
GameSoftware
Salesofusedgamesoftwareisan
attractivebusinessforretailshops
becauseofthebigprofitmarginthey
wouldget.However,thisdisables
gamesoftwarecompaniesfromre-ceivingtheprofittheyusuallywould
begetting,andthuscannotbeig-
nored.Especially,inadditionto
high-functiongamemachines,the
developmentofsoftwarethatuse3D
imagescostsmuchmorethanbefbre.
Softwarccompanicshavcbeenpro-
hibitingretailshopsfromselling
usedsoftware,butthishasnotbcen
improvedata11.
SofromJanuary1998,thegame
softwarecompanies,withCESAat
thecore,bcganacampaigntowipe
outusedsoftwaresales.According
totheprospectus,gamesoftware
companiesarelosingthesalesoP-
portunityofover313,000million
yenduetothesalesofusedsoftware,
withoutreceivinganyrcturns,andit
isconcludedthatifsuchasituation
continuesintothefUture,enough
fUndsfordevelopmentwouldnotbe
collected,delayingthedevelopment
ofnewtitles,andunconsentedsales
andpurchasesofsecondhandsoft-
warewouldnoticeablyretardsub-
stantialgrowthofthegameindustry.
Accordingtotheclaimmadebythe
gamesoftwarecompanies,game
softwareareapPlicableto``screen
rights"(``Representstheuseofvisual
andaudioeffects,similartomovie
effects,andincludesworkthatisin
materialfbrm")inthcJapaneseCopy
RightLaw.Furthermore,movies
aredifferentfrombooksintheway
thatthedistributionrightsof``work"
areexclusivelyowncdbythccopy-
rightowncr,andsalcsfromscreen-
ingandvideosisontheprecondition
thatthesedistributionrightsexist,
andthisalsoapPliestothesalesof
secondhandvideos.Therefbre,it
wouldbeillegaltosellusedgame
so丘warewithouttheconsentfrom
thecopyrightowner.
Gamesoftwareisdigitalworkandis
notdegradedevenasusedsoftwdre,
sothegamesoftwarecompany's
complaintisreasonable.Howevcr,
mostofthegameusersarechildren,
andthepriceofnewsoftwareisnot
JIQNo.113,1998 24
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cheaptothem.Itisveryattractive
tobeabletopurchaseusedsoftware
f()radiscountedprice.Inaddition,
thecustomer'smoneythatisgained
fromsellingusedproductscanbe
allottedf()rthepurchaseofnew
software,sowecanalsounderstand
theclaimfromretailshopsthatthe
existenceoftheusedgamcsoftware
marketisnotalwaysunprofitableto
softwarecompanies.
SCEmadeadistributionsystemto
supplyonlythenecessarynumberof
newsoftwaresotherewouldbeno
needtosellusedsoftware.Ifthe
profitmarginofnewsoftwareis
greaterthanthatofusedsoftware,
retailshopswouldnotneedtosell
uscdsoftware.However,withthe
increaseinPSsoftwaretitles,the
salespertitleisfalling,andcom-
paredtoexpectations,thereisan
increaseinleftovers.Sincesoft-
warecannotbereturned,theaverage
profitmarginofsuppliednewsoft-
wareasawhole「isminimized.
Therefbre,retailshopsthatfbllowed
SCE'spolicyanddidnothandle
uscdsoftwarcuptonowbcganto
ventureuponusedsoftwaresales.
3.ThePocketMonstersInci・
dentandGameSoftware
InDeccmber1997,duringthebroad-
castofthechildren'sanimationpro.
gram"PocketMonsters",685view-
ersgotsickandhadtobetreatedat
thehospitaLThiswascausedby
brightcolorsblinkingrapidlyfbr
severalseconds・Inthisrespect,
gamesoftwarealsousesalotof
stimulatingimages.Thepossibility
ofthesamethingtooccuragaincan-
notbedenied,butnoproblemsof
suchkindhaveoccurredyet.Be-
causegamesoftwarecompaniestest
theirproductsmanytimesuntilcom-
pletion,anysymptomthatoccurs
duringthetestingstageisfixed,and
itcanbesaidthatsuchproblems
practicallywillnotoccurevenif
rules,cspeciallyonthemethodof
imageexpression,arenotmade.
4.ViolentContentsandGame
Software
Therearemanyfightinggames
amongPopulargamesoftware,and
manybrutalgamesaswell.Therc
iscriticismthatsuchgamesare
drivingyoμngboysandgirlsto
25 JIQNo.113,1998
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commitcrimes.Especiallyduring
thesefewyears,softwaregamesare
underseverecriticismbecauseofthe
atrociouscrimescommittedoneafter
anotherbyyoungboysandgirls・
Asisseeninthelegalob}igationto
installV-chipsintotelevisionsetsin
2dllnerica,thereisafUturepossibility
ofbeingpressedintodealingwith
thisprobleminsomeway.Sinceit
isnotcvidentthatthereisacausal
relationshipbetweenviolent,stimu-
1atingimagesandjuvenilecrimes,
thegamesoftwareindustryfbrthe
timebeingisnotmakinganyindus-
try-unifiedrulesonse}f-imposed
restraintinparticular,andeachcom・
panyisdealingwiththisproblemon
itsownjudgment.CESAprovides
ethicalcodeuptoapoint,butithas
nopenalty,andthus,nopracticality・
Gamesoftwarecompaniescreate
softwarewiththelicensefromthe
platf()rmgamemachinevendors・
Thegamemachinevendorinspect
thesoftware,basedonthelicense
agreement.SEGAeundertheir
stipulatedcode,inspectsso負warefbr
SEGASaturn,classifyingtheminto
threetypes,``Forallages",``18and
over",and"lncludesviolentmate-
rial",andputsasealontheso負ware
todisplaythetype・SCEdoesnot
haveanystipulatedcode,andupon
anoveralljudgmeht,putsonthesea1
``Thecontentsofthissoftwarecon -
tainviolentscenesandgrotesque
expressions".SCEonlyhasthis
onetypeofseal.AndNintendo,
sincetheyhavethepolicytomake
nosuchtypesofgamesfromthebe-
ginning,hasnocodefbrinspection・
5.TheFutureoftheVideo
Gamelndustry
Thecompetitionbetweenvideo
gamemachinesandPCsisoften
talkedabout,butfromtheviewpoint
ofplayinggames,SCEdoesnotsee
PCsasarivaltogame-exclusivema-
chines.Wedonotknowwhich
directionthehouseholdPCwillpro-
ceedinthefUture,andoneday,there
maybeaconvergenceintoonething・
However,consideringthefailureof
allthegamemachinesthatcontain
PCfUnctionsduetotheweaknessof
fUnctions,itismorearealityf()rPCs
tohavetheimageprocessingfunc-
tionofgame-exclusivemachincsand
tobestandard-equippedwithagame
controlpad.Butthcn,thecost
wouldbeaproblem.
JIQNo.113,1998 26
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Fromtheviewpointofthecompeti-
tionofcontents,gamesarenotthe
onlyrivaLMulti-channcldigital
TVbroadcastingisalsoathreat.
Andlately,fromtheviewpointof
timepossession,thereisalsothe
opinionthatmobiletelephonesand
PHSphonesaretherival.
Fromnowon,itisthoughtthat
games,suchasonlinefightinggames,
thatarelinkedtotheinternetand
databroadcasting,andutilizethis
interactivity,willacquirethemarket
moreorless.NintendoandSCE
arebothentercdinthesatcllite
broadcastingbusiness,andareready
f()rthegamesofthenextgeneration,
butSony'sunderlyingstrengthinthe
multimediabusinessfromhardware
tosoftwaremaybcdisplayedinthe
future.
27 JIQNo.113,1998
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